Love on Tap

Love on Tap is a 2D visual novel simulation game where players become a novice bartender. They mix drinks, engage in branching conversations with patrons, and slowly uncover an ominous threat to their town.

Project Info

Tools: Unity 2D, Perforce, Wwise, Yarnspinner
Team Size: 3
Duration: January - May 2024

Role: Primary Game Designer

Prototyped and refined the main gameplay, designing and iterating on core mechanics and visuals to create an engaging player experience
Designed, developed, and integrated all 2D assets (including characters, props, and backgrounds) to align with the game’s narrative tone and aesthetic
Wrote and input all in-game dialogue, crafting a branching narrative that reflects player choices and deepens character interactions
Collaborated with my co-developer and a composer to implement C# scripting, Wwise audio systems, and an original soundtrack into the game

Developmental Process

Love on Tap was structured using a professional-style development pipeline. My co-developer Sydney Walker and I moved through the full cycle, from planning and pre-production to production, alpha, beta, and a polished final version.

Game’s Vertical Slice

Documents Used

Game Design Macro: We built a centralized design document to track systems, narrative branches, art needs, and mechanics across development
Burndown Chart: A visual task tracker we updated weekly to record task completion, outstanding bugs, and timeline pacing
Playtest Forms: Used during each testing phase to record player feedback, bugs, and areas for improvement

Results

Love on Tap helped me grow into a design leadership role, collaborate with a co-developer for an extended period of time, and work through a professional-style pipeline from start to finish.